Disclaimer-I don't own Digimon.

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Dive Into The Heart

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Kouichi lay on his bed facing the ceiling, locket in one hand, key in the other. He couldn't stop thinking. He wanted to stop thinking, he wanted to fall asleep, but he couldn't. It all made perfect sense, but it wouldn't connect. In fact, Kouichi realized he was afraid it would connect.

The locket, the diary, Hideki, Kako, her mother, her stepfather, her unknown father...it made too much sense. The puzzle was put together and it fit so well. Kouichi sat up and took out the diary from under his pillow.

One way to prove I'm wrong, he decided, opening the locket. It was empty. There was something else, wasn't there? He frowned and shut the locket. He turned it around several times before he recalled Saito's words. 'This locket held a sort of decoder for the diary. But there were two parts to the locket, and something else was also put in there. The ink can be read in the dark once the diary is decoded.' I should have known...the other side! Frantically, Kouichi slipped they key in the keyhole on the other side of the locket, quickly opening it. Inside lay a small glowing orb. Making sure it wouldn't fall, Kouichi placed the locket on his small light stand and opened the diary.

The answer had been in front of him all along. In the front cover was a small node, just large enough to fit the sphere. The boy gingerly picked up the sphere and placed it in the hole. The diary emitted a strong light. Kouichi shut his eyes, opening them just as the light died down.

He swallowed.

Kouichi flipped the page. Nothing. 'The ink can be read in the dark once the diary is decoded.' Smiling, Kouichi quickly shut the locket, placed it in a safe drawer of his desk, then turned off all of his lights. To make sure the room was completely dark, he closed the blinds to his window. "All right," he breathed, swallowing again, this time nervously. "Here goes nothing."

The book emitted a soft glow, this time, because of the text.

Kouichi nearly laughed. Mr. Saito must have been close to Marise to know all he does, he thought, picking up the diary.

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From the diary of Marise Saito:

Welcome, intruder! Whatever army you are from, I suppose it doesn't matter. After all, I am dead. But that's that. Shall we continue?

Where to start? Ah, yes, here. Seraphimon. Seraphimon, yes.

I am Marise Saito. My age matters little. I am Seraphimon's shadow. One must wonder, 'How is this? After all, this man died four years ago.' Dear friend, or enemy, I am not dead. I couldn't die. How would you stand not watching your own children grow? No, I have talked to them. My ghostly form does not age, it is so simple to fool them. My son seems to have finally understood. But I know...

Harumi has made sure that Kako has no unbreakable connection to me as Hideki does. It's a depressing fact, but I accept it. I wonder, is this my fault? It is said that should Ophanimon and Seraphimon's shadows ever marry, it is best they don't have children, true. But why not? In the right hands, they will grow fine. I do believe, however, they would have been better off with the Orimoto's. Or is this my jealousy speaking?

That man...shows no love for either of them. My fault again? If Hideki has a hard time, he'll know exactly where to find me. Of course, he couldn't hurt me, so it's not such a big problem. I'm a ghost, anyway.

How to continue? This is a lot harder than it seems. So, even now I am Seraphimon. His next shadow is Hideki, but it won't work that way. No, Hideki...Angemon...died. I'm afraid he won't be able to be Seraphimon's shadow. It will be four years, then...four years until the next shadow.

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Kouichi put down the diary, eyes wide. Kako had said Hideki had no shadow. So, then, she doesn't know? He was Angemon? I wonder if...

But now he could be certain. Kako was definitely Saito's daughter. Kouichi shut the diary and placed it under his bed. He lay back down on bed, and a smile appeared on his face. It would make sense soon, he knew. The feeling was strong. Whatever was going to happen would happen soon.

Despite the chaos, he felt right at home in the world.

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Kouji awoke the next morning, earlier than usual. Despite the fact that he missed his warm bed, he got up and continued with his plans.

Today's the day, he thought with a smile. A late birthday bash. I hope Lowemon didn't spoil anything.

He found a note stuck to the fridge.

'Gone out for a walk. I ate breakfast. Meet you at school.
Kouichi.'

Kouji smiled. Everything was going as planned. He picked up the phone and dialed Takuya's number. "Hello? Takuya...?"

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Kako rubbed her eyes, wishing she had gotten more sleep. The entire night, she had been tossing and turning. I must've gotten an hour or two, she realized as she quickly got ready. She walked into the kitchen only to find Hideki making breakfast.

Turning to his sister, Hideki waved. "Have fun last night?" he asked. She beamed and nodded happily. Now smirking, Hideki asked, "Are you going to keep that hat on forever?"

"Hat?" Kako repeated dumbly.

"Yes, hat. If I do remember correctly, that's Kouichi's hat..."

The color drained from the girl's face. She placed both hands on her head. Sure enough, Kako was wearing his hat. I don't remember the hat...when did this happen? Kako shut her eyes. Last night was nothing more than a blur to her. "OH!" the girl exclaimed. She smiled. "Yep. Now I remember. I opened the presents last night..."

"Awww...how cute. But it looks weird on you."

Angrily, Kako threw a crumpled paper at her brother's back. "Shaddup."

Hideki cackled and placed the plate of food in front of her. He walked back to pick up the crumpled paper and uncrumpled it. "Oh," he muttered. "This. Anyway, I'm subbing again today. We can drive if you want."

Excitedly, Kako looked up at her brother. "Really?" she asked.

The door bell rang and the two siblings fell silent. Hideki headed to the door and opened it. A smirk appeared on his face when he found Kouichi in front of him, sighing. "So, the new twerp. What can I do for you?"

"What? I'm back to the twerp?" Kouichi whined. At the sound of his voice, Kako jumped out of her seat and ran up beside Hideki.

"Yeah, you're dating Kako, aren't you?" Hideki asked in an accusing voice.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?" Kako and Kouichi screamed in unison.

Rolling his eyes, Hideki replied, "Older brother instincts. Now, what?"

Right, Kouichi drew a breath and murmured, "I kinda need to talk to you..."

A frown. "Me?" Hideki asked, pushing Kako away. "Why me?"

"BECAUSE. NOW GET OUT HERE."

"Sheesh, fine, fine..." Hideki grumbled, walking outside and shutting the door behind him. The young man scowled, "What gave you the right to order me around?"

In response, Kouichi held up Marise's diary. "I assume you're familiar with this?" he asked softly.

Hideki said nothing. His eyes were glued to the diary. Finally, he cleared his throat and asked, "Where'd you get it?" An internal fight seemed to be raging through him.

Kouichi kept a tight grip on the book, noticing Hideki's shaking fists. "Mr. Saito. But first, tell me. Kako said you had no shadow."

Again, silence. A breeze blew. Hideki suddenly laughed. "I did, though. It should be one of the first things he wrote about," he murmured softly. "Hideki the failure. Hideki, the guy who just couldn't live up to his father's dreams. Something went wrong that day. I lost. I didn't have any faith in myself after that. And so, I wasn't given another shadow. That's what Kako knew me as. 'Hideki. The brother I have. Oh, and he doesn't have a shadow.' It's quite rare for one of our family to not have a shadow. Dad's still here because of me. He can't move on. He has to stay, because if he doesn't, Seraphimon will die." Hideki took the moment to draw a breath.

All the information flew through Kouichi's head. "What happened to Angemon?" His voice was barely a whisper.

A bitter laugh escaped Hideki. "Remember the royal pains? Well, I promised Mom I'd protect those kids. Angemon just ended up stupidly attacking those two and dying in the process."

"But he was reborn!" insisted Kouichi. "Why couldn't you still be his shadow?" Kako's reason for wanting to get rid of the system suddenly made perfect sense. Hideki shrugged. Kouichi, once more, took his time to evaluate Hideki. He was a definite screw-up. Yet, all those mistakes seemed to make him as wise as he was. And, for the first time, Kouichi viewed Hideki as an actual man in contrast to the annoying child he considered him before. He's older than he looks, Kouichi mused, staring thoughtfully at Kako's older brother.

Hideki noticed the look on Kouichi's face. Narrowing his eyes, he barked, "What, twerp? Something on my face?"

"No...you look old."

"I'M TWENTY-FIVE, OKAY? SHEESH! THAT ISN'T OLD!" Hideki screamed. "If that's it, I'm going back inside. Come in, because I don't want Kako getting a cold."

Kouichi nearly froze, but politely shook his head. "I should be heading back," he murmured as an excuse.

Hideki chuckled, "Nonsense, you have your backpack and everything!" When Kouichi didn't budge, he muttered, "Or I'll murder you right now."

"Question. Does Kako know?"

"About...?"

"Marise."

"No."

Kouichi inclined his head slightly and walked in, wincing as he stepped over the threshold. To his surprise, however, the room had a familiar feel to it. He sighed softly and followed Hideki into the kitchen. "Kako," he muttered, taking a seat, "your brother is pure evil."

A devious smirk appeared on Kako's face. "He's going to be twenty-six soon," she whispered. "That's why he's so cranky." She burst out laughing when Hideki turned around and glared at her. "Hideki the old man!"

"I'm not that old yet-oh...great, I hurt my back," Hideki muttered, making a face and placing a hand on his back. "Help, help...I need a cane..."

Kako continued to laugh, clapping childishly as Hideki continued with his act. Kouichi sat back and watched in amusement, a small smile on his face.

'Hey, Kako, look! I'm balancing spoons on my nose!'

Kouichi shut his eyes and remembered all the times Hideki had done that before. The nostalgia was quickly brushed away. "Fifteen minutes and then we should leave," he reminded them after glancing at the clock.

Hideki snorted, "Bah, I'm driving!"

"Not drunk, I hope."

"Sorry, I don't get drunk in the morning. And Rai made me promise to not get drunk anymore."

"Oh! Kouji seriously got drunk last night?" Kako asked, suddenly concerned. "He looked fine to me. And I can't tell dream from reality right now."

Kouichi froze. "M-my hat..."

"Yeah, you gave it to me, so what?"

"It's...weird on you."

Snickering, Hideki declared, "HAH! I HAVE SUPPORT!"

Letting out a sigh, Kako stood up and walked past Kouichi, taking off the hat and placing it on his head. "Shush. I'm not you, you know."

Smiling slightly, Kouichi took off the hat and examined it. "No stains yet."

"I WOULDN'T STAIN IT!" she snapped, whirling around to kick him.

Kouichi ducked quickly and Kako's foot ended up skimming the top of the chair. He let out a sigh and crawled out from under the table. "Hideki, let me say this now. I pity you."

"Yeah, I pity myself, too," Hideki sniffed, taking the dishes off the table. "So, I should get there early, huh?"

Kouichi shrugged. He couldn't quite understand it, but when he was in this house...

He smiled to himself. A new feeling overwhelmed him. He didn't understand it now, but he could tell, just as he had understood the entire matter of the Digital World, he would soon understand that feeling. It was just a matter of time. For minutes, Kouichi sat there, realizing just how lucky he was to be who he was. He ignored what was happening around him and instead took it all in. The giant puzzle lay in front of him, a pile of pieces behind him. He was holding just another piece. There were so many pieces. But he would take his time. And then, he thought as they buckled up in the car, then the puzzle will fall into place.

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"Gah...too hard! Kouji, think of something easy!" Takuya snapped. "Shinya will only do so much!"

Kouji dropped his books in his locker and slammed it shut. His mind wouldn't work properly. There was too much to think about. Sighing, he muttered, "Takuya, imagine yourself in my place. Suppose...your dad gave you and your twin tickets to visit him in Hawaii. Would you go?"

"HAWAII? HELL YES!" Takuya exclaimed gleefully.

"Even if your dad wanted to discuss...'family matters?'"

"HELL YES!" the goggle boy repeated, even more enthusiastic than before.

The bandana boy winced at the volume. Why'd I ask him? Looking around, he found Izumi nearby. "Hey, Izumi!" he called out, walking over to her. "I need to ask you something."

Laughing, Takuya sang, "Hawaii!"

A sigh escaped Kouji. "If your dad gave you and your twins tickets to Hawaii to visit him, would you go?" Almost immediately, he regretted asking. He could practically see the stars in Izumi's eyes.

Izumi whirled around, clasping her hands together. She squealed. Then, shutting her eyes, the girl dreamily murmured, "H-Hawaii? Of course!"

Is everyone going to act like this? Wait...Junpei wouldn't! I'll go ask him! Kouichi made his way to find the older boy, making sure Izumi and Takuya weren't following him. He found Junpei at his locker. "Junpei!"

Junpei whirled his head around. "Oh, Kouji. Sheesh, you don't look tired from last night at all."

Kouji grinned. He laughed slightly at the remark. Remembering his reason for searching for Junpei, Kouji asked before he could forget, "If your dad gave you and your twin tickets to visit him in Hawaii, would you go?"

There was a slight pause. Junpei's mouth hung open slightly. The only response Kouji got was, "Ha...Hawaii..."

Disgusted with everyone's response (and Junpei's drooling), Kouji stormed to Kouichi's locker, hoping his twin was already there. Sure enough, he was, along with Kako and Hideki. Suddenly, Kouji yelled, "Hey, Hideki! If your dad gave you and your twin tickets to Hawaii to visit him, would you go?" He didn't know why he asked. He just wanted an honest opinion.

Hideki, Kako and Kouichi turned to Kouji. Kako then turned to Kouichi, raising an eyebrow curiously, but the boy kept his eyes glued on his twin. Then, Hideki stroked his beardless chin thoughtfully. "Hawaii, eh?" he muttered.

"Well?"

"Well, first off, I'd successfully get rid of the twin!" Hideki laughed. At this point, Kouichi's eyes widened in horror. "Then, I'd bring along Rai!"

"What about me?"

Hideki froze and turned his head, a sheepish smile on his face. "Eh...hi, Rai..." he mumbled weakly.

Swallowing, Kouichi declared, "If you in any way harm me, Kouji, I'm hiding all your video games!"

"I wouldn't do that." Kouji sulked over and rested his head on a locker, ignoring Hideki's screams of pain as Kako repeatedly kicked his shin while Ms. Kawai lectured him. "No one's taking the question seriously..."

"What question?" Ms. Kawai suddenly asked.

Kouichi sighed. The twins exchanged glances. Finally, Kouichi attempted to repeat the question, "If your dad gave you and your twin tickets to-great, it's a tongue twister."

Kouji tried, "If you and your twi-"

"Twin and you-"

"GAH!" the younger twin screamed, "HE'S TRYING TO RUIN MY LIFE!"

"Cut your hair!" Kouichi snapped.

Kouji glared. Covering his bandana, he scowled, "Leave my hair out of this!"

Snapping his fingers, Kouichi's face brightened. The boy turned to Ms. Kawai and told her, "Our dad gave us tickets to Hawaii so we could visit him. But...we don't know if we really want to go. So, if you were in our place, what would you do?"

"Depends on the reason," his teacher replied.

Kouji let out a shaky breath. "Family reasons," he replied after a long pause.

"Well, I'd skip out. I find 'family reasons' utterly boring. Just you two, hm?"

Kouichi nodded.

"In that case," Rai advised, "if you do choose to go, bring something that'll keep you awake along. Gameboys won't hurt."

The twins exchanged glances again. They turned to Rai, then back at each other.

"Is she nuts?" Kouji asked in a low whisper.

Kouichi shook his head. He murmured back, "Well, think about it. It's like Kako's attitude in an adult. Only, less violent."

The younger of the two laughed a little, "But nuts or not, she's cool. Hideki's got pretty good taste."

After successfully hitting Kouji's head, Kouichi turned back to the other three casually, only to find that the number of people grouped in front of them had grown.

"Woah, we're popular!" Kouji laughed. Perfect. This should make the plan a lot easier.

"Ah...you wish," Kouichi muttered, pushing his way around everyone. Why do they have to be grouped around my locker? He looked back, finding Kouji making large gestures while, Kouichi guessed, making up some story or another. A small smile appeared. He quickly hid it when Kanaye walked past.

The two exchanged cold glares. Kouichi's quickly faded, noticing the other boy's black eye. He did his best to not snicker, but miserably failed.

A certain understanding that had been passed through their glares quickly faded and Kanaye snarled, "What's so funny, Kimura? Believe me, your brother won't get away with this."

Covering his mouth, Kouichi replied, "Yes he will. Just you wait."

"You'll be waiting."

"No, you will!"

"I DON'T HAVE TIME TO ARGUE WITH YOU!" Kanaye burst, storming away with two other boys hastily running after him.

Kouichi burst into full out laughter. He couldn't stop. It was too funny. Not even once had he seen anyone like Kanaye lose their cool so easily.

His laughter faded quickly with the ring of the bell. Looking over at Ms. Kawai, he saw her slightly nod at him. A groan escaped Kouichi's lips. More torture in Ogata's classroom. Great.

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Kouichi wished it were night. He was eager to read more of Marise's diary, despite the fact that it made him more depressed. The hunger pangs were growing. Breakfast was so long ago, he realized. When did I wake up? Five? Kouichi glanced at the clock. Nine eighteen. Great. He turned to his twin and asked, "Still thinking about it?"

A small smile appeared on Kouji's face as he nodded. "Too many factors..."

"Yeah."

"Oh, brighten up, you two!" Kako snapped. "Uh...oh..." she suddenly muttered as Hideki called the class to attention. "Careful."

"Alright!" Hideki exclaimed, banging the ruler against the white board, "Because Rai'll kill me if we don't do anything useful-er...educational, actually, we're going to learn about probability! Hey, twerp, get up here!"

"I AM NOT A TWERP!" Kouji snapped in a deadly voice.

Kouichi winced. "Or...were you calling me?" he suddenly asked.

A frown appeared on Hideki's face. "Twerp two. Get up here."

The twins exchanged exasperated glares. "WHO'S TWERP TWO?" they snapped in sync.

Hideki pointed to Kouji, and the younger twin angrily stood up, storming over to the front. "What?" the boy snapped.

"Snappy today, are we? Okay! Next victim...Kana-what's-yer-name who picks on my sister!" announced Hideki as he pointed to Kanaye.

Kanaye stood up smoothly and walked over. A smirk was plastered on his face. It didn't take more than a split second for Kouichi to realize what he was going to do. Instinctively, he stood up, but sat down as soon as he noticed Kouji's face. He better not screw up, the older twin thought.

"And now," Hideki announced, walking around the room, "We'll see the probability of Kana-what's-his-name winning against Kouji in arm wrestling. Ready? Sit down and we'll start!" As he said this, Kanaye and Kouji took their seats on the opposite side of a cleared table.

Kouichi sat at the edge of his seat, swallowing as he watched the two boys exchange glares. Hideki placed a folded paper on his desk and continued to walk.

A few seconds later, Kouichi left the room.

"Now, why don't both of you take a-what, twerp?" Hideki growled in annoyance when Kouji raised his hands.

"Kendo's more of my game," Kouji replied, his eyes still formed in a glare concentrated at Kanaye. "And I'm sure Kanaye'd love to show off his moves-"

"Twerp, this time, I can't agree. Although, I'd love the smashing of Kana-what's-"

"It's Kanaye," the second boy snapped, rising to his feet. "Sword matches-w-wait! Where'd he go?" Kanaye suddenly asked, surprised to find Kouichi gone.

A small smile was hidden by Kouji. Brilliant, Hideki. You're in top form today.

Now looking quite cross, Hideki folded his arms across his chest. His eyes narrowed in on Kanaye and he growled, "Oh, troublemaker, are you? Arm wrestling is as far as I can get, so shut up and live with it! Now, Kouji, pretend you're Cloud."

"Wh-what?" sputtered the bandana boy. A glare from Hideki was enough for him to shut his mouth.

"Kana-yey, pretend you're the arm wrestling machine they have at the Gold Saucer that's very irksome. Whoever can define irksome in one word gets chocolate."

"ANNOYING! Like you," Kako yelled almost immediately. "Now hand over the chocolate!"

Hideki smirked. "I said one word. 'ANNOYING! Like you' happens to be three."

Where's Kouichi when you need him as back up? Kako directed a glare at her brother but said nothing aloud.

Kouji and Kanaye situated themselves as soon as Kanaye sat back down. Their arms were merely inches apart, and their eyes pierced one another's. Kako could practically see a fire. Hideki pulled out a chocolate from his pocket and unwrapped it. Before popping it in his mouth, he said, "Okay, next word later. So, the probability that Cloud wins is slim to none, unless you have ultra l33t skills like m-"

"L33T!" Kouji yelled, "LIKE ME!" As he said this, he slammed Kanaye's hand down.

Kanaye's eyes widened. Angrily he slammed Kouji's hand down, screaming, "I WASN'T READY!"

"Is that always your excuse? And yet, you take advantage when other people aren't ready!"

Hideki watched the two boys attempt to strangle each other. Much to his dislike, Kanaye seemed to be winning. Before he could do anything, however, Kouji grabbed a nearby umbrella. "Twerp, hold it-" Hideki paused. Actually, if he beats up Kanaye-NO WAIT! They'll take him away. With a sigh, Hideki grudgingly did the right thing.

Unfortunately, at the wrong time.

There was a flash of metal before both Kouji and Hideki fell to the floor, bleeding. Kouji's wound from that Sunday had opened up once more, and Hideki's left palm was bleeding. Angrily, Hideki stood up and kicked the sword out of Kanaye's hand before grabbing the boy by the collar with his undamaged hand.

"Sit. DOWN," growled Hideki, using all of his control so he wouldn't throw Kanaye as he placed him down. "Now, for this, the entire class can have a little fun. I expect at least a ten-page essay from each of you by the end of today. I want it on the reason why we don't bring weapons to school. Oh, Kouichi, you're back. You too," Hideki snapped.

Kouichi nodded and sat down. Ten pages. Why we don't bring weapons to school...? His gaze went to Kanaye, then his brother. Kouji's bleeding...? He was about to open his mouth when he saw Hideki's hand as the young man reached for Kanaye's fallen sword. A sigh escaped instead, and Kouichi returned to his paper.

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"Well, well, so far only one person done?" Hideki asked good-naturedly as Kouichi placed the papers on the desk.

Kouichi shrugged on his way back to his desk and pulled out a book to read.

Hideki cleared his throat.

Persistent...what does he want? Kouichi looked up.

"I believe you have unfinished business?" he asked Kouichi with a raised eyebrow. "Feel free to take the rest of your things, too. They'll be writing until the end of class."

The boy stood up, picked up his bag and walked over to Hideki. His eyes narrowed. "So do you," he muttered, tossing his first aid kit on the desk before walking out.

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A/N-

Chapters are shorter than usual, I know, but it's going to take some time. Connecting facts is hard, and I'm attempting to make this as connected as possible. Sometimes, though, you can't pull the ropes in yourself. You can try, but you'll only get a few fish. That's why I'm very grateful for readers as observant as all of you. .:grin:. Because that way, the little facts that I've missed are pointed out and I can further clarify the story!

So, thank you! And please, don't steal my fish analogy and claim it as your own. I actually like it.

.:Kouichi:. This chapter is Kouichi-checked and ready to go. Actually, let me double check…

Thank you for the reviews (and advice and comments and everything that helped me)-

GemmaniGirl, Catwarrior, PrincessYami, Snowy Leopardess, WithBrokenWings, Lady Hikari-Yami

Please Review or Flame! Because reviews and flames are fun to read. After all, what other way do I figure out what you like to read? And I get to find out more about you!

Review or Flame.